NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Army News Service, April 3, 2012) -- The U.S. Army's AH-64 Apache Block III next-generation attack helicopter is finishing up its Initial Operational Test and Evaluation at Fort Irwin, Calif., and should be ready to deploy with Soldiers sometime next year, officials said April 2 at the Army Aviation Association of America's 2012 Professional Forum and Exposition. The nitial Operational Test and Evaluation, known as IOT&E, is a series of combat-like assessments and evaluations placing the aircraft in operationally relevant scenarios as a way to prepare the platform for full-rate production, said Col. Shane Openshaw, project manager, Apache Attack Helicopters. Although formal results of the Block III Apache's IOT&E are still in the process of being determined, preliminary observations and early indications suggest the high-tech aircraft is performing extrem...